The King of Fighters XII
by Strike To Incinerate
Summary: [A KOFXII story.] The fighters gear up for the next tournament, the conclusion to both the Tales of Ash and the story of Judiem and Addes. What will the KOF hold in store for our heroes, both new and old, and everyone else? [I do plan to finish this one!]


_Author's Note: Okay, here it is, the 'response fic' to ALLRRPRP's "KOFi". Originally, I was just going to write about the three teams I thought up in my review for that fanfiction... but then I decided to come up with a few 'dream teams', so to speak. At the end of this thing, the names and team members will be listed, since I'm not writing for every team. Some will just be mentioned._

_Disclaimer: I do not own KOF. At all. I wish I owned Chae Lim... and Kasumi Todoh. And possibly Ninon Beart. But if wishes were wings, we all could fly. Instead we have jetplanes. And fanfiction._

_Pairings: I don't think I'll tell you. I'll let it be a surprise... if this ever ends up being more than one chapter (which it might, with some encouragement). There's really only hinting for two or three pairings in this thing. There's actually a HUGE hint for a pairing that LSN, bless his soul, the biggest KOF fan on likes. Personally, I don't like this pairing all that much, but I could soooo see it happening. I think there's some hinting for it in XI._

--

"Jae Hoon! Chae Lim! That's enough!" Kim called proudly to his two best students.

Jae and Chae smiled to each other, and instead of bowing as their sparring match came to a close, they punched each other's fists in an amicable way.

"We should head out to grab something to eat! I'm so famished!" The young woman groaned, then laughed.

Jae Hoon nodded, wiping the sweat from his face with a towel. "We should. Does anyone else want to come?" he offered, looking out to the crowd of eager fellow students and fans.

A bunch of hands went into the air, along with some shrill cries.

Jae Hoon and Chae Lim were about to point to their friends and invite them, when a strong hand clapped down on their shoulders.

In unison, their heads turned, and they blinked.

"Oh! Master Jhun, would you like to come?" Chae Lim offered him. Usually, the masters didn't go with them on these outtings, but they'd never offered, either.

"It'll be my treat," he said with a warm smile. Almost instantly, the wondertwins of Kim's dojo knew something was up. "On the condition that it will be just the three of us. We never hang out," he added.

Jae Hoon looked back to the crowd and shrugged. Fair was fair. "Sorry!" he called.

"That's good... let's go, shall we?" he offered.

--

The ride there was long and quiet. Chae Lim sat in the passenger's seat, as Jae Hoon was a gentleman, and Jhun Hoon drove, because it was his car and he was the only one with a license. Although it was Jhun Hoon's 'treat', they both felt as if they were in trouble. They couldn't think of what they'd done...

"Did you two know that there's going to be another KOF this year?" Jhun Hoon began, smiling and brushing locks of his white-silver hair out of his eyes. He seemed much too young for hair so alabaster, but it made him appear very dashing, and the female students seemed to like it.

Chae Lim nodded. "Yes... May Lee told me, but I didn't get an invitation," she said, disappointed.

"That's because Kim isn't going to take you two. Either of you," Jhun Hoon replied, his lips twisting into a smirk.

Jae Hoon leaned forward in surprise, tugging at his seat belt. "What? But... Chae and I are the best students in the dojo! We've been to the KOF before! Why wouldn't he take us?" he demanded.

"Because he's taking May Lee and Chang," Jhun said, almost bitterly. "But... you two could still go."

Their interests were piqued. "How?" Chae asked. "We don't have invitations, remember?"

Jhun Hoon was quite proud of how smoothly this was going. Now that he had the two riled up, Kim really was going to eat dirt this year. "But I do."

"How'd you get one?" Chae asked.

"They sent it to me, thinking that I would team up with Kim. But he decided not to accept me back onto the Korea Team. So... I'm taking you two with me to the KOF," he said.

Jae Hoon looked down. "That doesn't sound like a good idea. I mean, yeah, it's not very fair that Dad picked May Lee and Chang over one of us... but he must have had a good reason for that choice. And there'll be other KOFs," he explained.

"I don't think I could fight the Master," Chae added.

Jhun Hoon pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. "Don't you two know what you're saying? You're the best students that Kim and I have... one day, you're going to surpass your father, Jae Hoon. You know that, right?" he said, turning off the car and turning around to face the bluenette.

"I... we still have a long way to go," Jae Hoon said, directing his gaze to Chae Lim.

"Maybe not as far as you think. Why don't you use this KOF to find out how much further you have to go?" Jhun Hoon suggested.

They thought about it for a moment.

"Could we... do you think we stand a chance against Master Kim?" Chae Lim asked Jae.

He shrugged. "Maybe not. But at the very least... we should be there to fight injustices and recruit more students. May Lee won't be able to do it, and Dad will have his hands full with Chang."

Jhun Hoon's grin grew. "So... the two of you will join me?"

They nodded.

"Great. The Better-Looking and Infinitely More Talented Korea Team has been formed."

--

"Oooh, we should've just killed those Sakazaki suckers in their sleep!"

A young woman of very limited height flopped down on the mattress, before banging her fist against it. She had sunshine blond hair, unusual for a girl who claimed to be from Osaka, and a liking for the colors white and maroon.

"I know. This is all Kisaragi-san's fault!" the second young woman, slightly older, with long, blue-black hair and sapphire colored eyes, agreed. Her lips were twisted into a frown. "It was his stupid idea to jump King and Ryo Sakazaki!" she huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

"For an elite assassin, he's so stupid. We all got our asses handed to us by King and a flying table," Malin complained. "You know.. the only reason he suggested that was to impress you."

Kasumi's cheeks turned sakura-pink. "As if. He's like, ten years older than me, Marin-chan."

"It's Malin," she corrected.

"I know. I can't help it. My English isn't spotless," Kasumi replied, sighing.

"Flawless," Malin corrected again.

"Thanks, but it really isn't," Kasumi said, smiling.

"No, you meant to use that word. Spotless wasn't right."

Kasumi picked up a pillow and hit her with it. "Whatever. We still need to beat Yuri and Ryo."

"That's true," Malin agreed. "So how do we do it?" she asked.

"Without Kisaragi-san, first of all," Kasumi began.

Malin smiled mischevously. "Whyyyy? Are you mad at your boyfriend, oneechan?" she teased.

"He does not like me, either!" Kasumi protested.

"Oh, Kasumi-dono!" Malin imitated Eiji for a moment.

"Stop it, Malin!"

"Oh, alright... fine. But we still need a third team member," Malin said, pouting because Kasumi had ruined her fun.

Kasumi tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well... we need someone strong, who compliments us... someone we like, and we have stuff in common with!"

Malin rolled over. "Well... how about your friend Xiangfei?" she suggested.

"How about NO? Last time I was on a team with Xiangfei, she nearly ate a whole restaurant, and left King, Mai and I with the bill!" Kasumi replied.

"Well, King then."

"She said that she, Mai and Mary were reforming the Women's Team," Kasumi replied quietly.

"You were going to team with them instead of me...?" Malin asked, shocked and a little bit hurt.

Kasumi nodded. "I've known them longer, sorry. But they didn't need another teammate, so it doesn't matter."

"Well... there's Shingo..."

"NO. We'll be even more of a joke than we already are!"

Malin laughed. "Shingo's not that bad. He's kind of cute."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you like retarded Kusanagi fanboys."

"Okay, okay. What about... hey, Hinako! She's probably not doing anything!" she said. "Plus, we both get along with her, and we could have, like... that Highschool girls' image, only more mature!" Malin said emphatically.

Kasumi paused, then nodded. "Okay. Let's call Hinako."

Hinako agreed to join them, having a new goal in mind; an all female sumo wrestling league.

The College Girls' Team had been born.

--

"Has it been agreed that you, Kagura and I will team up again to stop Ash Crimson?" Iori asked, drawing a deep drag from his cigarette, which hung from his thin lips, the ash falling onto the counter that his hulking frame leaned against.

Kyo nodded, his hand curled around a glass of diet Coke as he sat on a stool. "Yeah. We're just waiting for her to get here..." he said.

The unspoken question hung in the air; after her injuries at the 2003 tournament, which prevented her from participating the year before... would she be able to fight at the level she once had? Or had she fallen behind?

The still, uneasiness lightened up as the door to the bar was pushed open, and a stately woman with long, flowing black hair, pale skin, and a general aura of calm entered.

Kyo and Iori looked over. Their teammate had finally arrived.

"Good to see you, Kyo, Iori," Chizuru greeted them, taking a seat at the bar, between them.

They didn't make any protest, and Kyo gave a nod of greeting.

"I think it's pretty clear what we have to do; stop Ash Crimson from gaining the Kusanagi katana, and prevent the Orochi from once again being unsealed. Why do we have to have this little pow-wow?" the irate Yasakani heir asked, exhaling smoke at the priestess.

She gracefully fanned it away with her hand. "It may not be so simple. You and I need to retrieve our powers... we will have to knock Ash Crimson unconscious and keep him docile until we can get the mirror and Magatama back," she said.

"Let me guess; you still haven't figured out how?" Iori asked, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and grinding it out against the countertop.

She nodded, and Kyo chuckled.

"It's not a laughing matter, Kyo," she told him sternly.

"I know... but it's kinda what I expected," he replied, taking a sip of his beverage.

"Do you have any ideas?" Iori growled.

"Nope," Kyo said with a grin. Then again... the only thing that was important to him was making sure that Ash Crimson never messed with one of his friends again; he still had his Treasure.

"Water, please," Chizuru told the waitress, before answering Iori's question. "Everything I can think of involves... well, it'd be messy."

"I'm okay with messy," Iori quipped, now grinning.

Kyo shrugged. "Messy's cool."

"I'd rather not have that on my conscience," Chizuru said uneasily.

"Then do you have any other suggestions?" Iori continued, his grin fading. It seemed that the insufferable Kagura wench would be holding them back, after all.

She shook her head, onyx strands swaying to and fro.

"Hey, Yagami, it's not her fa..." Kyo began, but the redhead had already stood and made his way towards the door.

"This meeting was a waste of time, and I have better things to be doing," he said coldly.

Kyo grunted. "See you at the KOF."

--

Alone in an alley in the depths of Southtown, the city that had fallen into ruins thanks to the caring guidance of the former Don, Duke, stood a girl with valentine-pink hair and big brown eyes.

Around her stood the remaining members of the shattered gang once led by the former Don, Mephistopheles. And boy, did they look PISSED at this poor girl.

"At least she's cute... I heard the new Don's brother thinks so, too," one thug sneered.

That was what set Mignon off. She was no damsel in distress; she was a great witch who would one day be hailed as the harbinger of world peace. "Eeeew! Soiree Meira is sooo gross! And so are you! Mignon's going to teach you a lesson, yeah!" she told him, pointing one white gloved finger at him.

He laughed at her. "Yeah, right. What're you gonna do, little girl? Cry?" he taunted.

"Fire!"

A ball of flame ejected from the tip of her finger and sped towards the thug, who caught it with his chest. He flew head over heels, quite comically, into a trash can.

The rest of them were either amused, or spooked. The spooked ones took a step back, and the amused ones moved towards Mignon, who brought her hands up to chest level, ready to fight.

"Aw... such a pretty kitty in need of assistance?" a smooth voice drawled.

A general chorus of the word, "Shit," or any synonym, rippled through the alley.

Mignon rolled her eyes.

"We'd be glad to help," the voice continued, accompanied by the tapping of leather cowboy boots.

"Get out of our town," a second voice commanded. That was one was deeper, edgier... more mature, but it still fueled Mignon's ire.

"Mignon does not need Alba Meira or Soiree Meira's help! Mignon can handle it on her own!" she huffed, her cheeks turning almost as pink as her hair out of embarrassment.

In about thirty seconds, a neat pile of thuggish bodies lay in the middle of the alley, and Alba grinned, his violet eyes dancing with satisfaction at their handiwork behind the sunglasses, while Soiree leaned forward, huffing from their short exertion.

"Well, kitty, I think I deserve a reward..." the Angel of Twilight said, grinning.

Mignon shook her head. "Mignon could have handled it herself, but nooo... stupid Meira twins rushing in... Oooh, you make Mignon so huffy-wuffy!" she said, clenching her fists and stomping her foot on the concrete.

"Immature as always..." Alba drawled, shaking his head in disapproval.

"Why do you always put Mignon down?!" the pink-haired witch demanded in frustration.

"I don't put you down!" Soiree interjected.

"Shut up!" Mignon huffed.

"Soiree... let's get out of here..." the redhead in leather mumbled.

"No, wait a sec!" Soiree said, approaching Mignon. "How about you join our team for the KOF? We have an open spot! Then bro here can't put you down, and you can join the tournament," he encouraged.

"That is why you were here, goading on these thugs, isn't it?" Alba asked, pushing his sunglasses back up the bridge of his nose. "You were trying to get an invitation to the next King of Fighters tournament..."

Ashamed that she had been discovered, Mignon nodded, looking at the ground.

"You need a team to join this year," Alba continued.

"What?! That's soooo not fair!" Mignon whined.

Soiree smiled brightly, almost ear to ear. "You might as well just join us!"

Mignon glanced to Alba, knowing that he might be against it.

The Don of Southtown sighed. "If Soiree wants to... I guess," he said.

"Okay!" Mignon pumped a fist into the air. "Mignon will do her best to be a good teammate to Alba and Soiree Meira... but only for the tournament!" she promised.

It wasn't exactly what Soiree had hoped for when he urged Alba to help Mignon out, but it was a decent start.

--

What was once a practice dummy now hung limply from the branch of the tree, shredded cloth and torn wood swaying gently back and forth, chips of wood littering the grass below, as the ninja slipped his sword back into it's sheathe.

There was a soft clapping sound, and Eiji Kisaragi glanced over her shoulder.

A blond man in a lot of denim smirked. "Long time no see, eh, old chap?" Billy Kane asked, his red staff leaning against his shoulder.

Eiji turned around, smirking as well beneath his mask. While he and Billy Kane were a bit of an 'odd couple' (a ninja assassin and a mob boss's right hand), they'd become friends during the KOF '96 tournament, sharing a similar, unbalanced nature, and then, an extreme hatred of one man; Iori Yagami. They also had other enemies... such as Ryo Sakazaki and Terry Bogard.

But, more recently, Eiji had made a revelation that Billy had sworn against; there was a woman that he did not want to slap, stab, poison or otherwise incapacitate. In fact... if anyone went against this particular object of the Kisaragi ninja's affections, he would do more than slap, stab, poison or otherwise incapacitate them.

"Perhaps too long. How are you, my friend?" he asked the Brit.

Billy shrugged. "Same as evah. Tryin' ta keep mah little sister from worryin' her pretty head about me too much," he said with a chuckle. "'Ow about you, mate? Any progress with smashing in some Sakazaki skulls?"

Eiji shook his head. "Unfortunately, no... Kasumi Todoh, Malin and I attempted a surprise attack, but we were bested by that Muay Thai barmaid."

Billy raised one golden brow. "The Todoh girl, eh...?" he asked. "What would make ya team with 'er?" he asked. "She's usually on that Ladies Team, ain't she? Can't imagine she'd be very helpful to ya."

Eiji swallowed the urge to smack Billy Kane silly for disrespecting Kasumi, but... he and Billy had been friends long before this infatuation with Ryuhaku's daughter had taken hold. "She was rather helpful... she's much more skilled than her father, although she seems not to realize it. The surprise attack was my idea, and thus, the loss was my fault," he grumbled.

Billy laughed. "Woah... it's alright, mate. No need to get all defensive," he teased. "If ya like the girl, that's not mah problem. I just didn't think someone so..."

"So what?" Eiji asked, half-curious.

"So short, would be your type," Billy finished.

Eiji nodded; Kasumi-dono was very small. Although it was hard to tell because of her voluminous attire, Kasumi was smaller than Malin. But, he liked it. It made him feel more protective of her.

"I don't think you called me here to discuss your love life, mate. Spill it," Billy added.

"This is the year that we take down Iori Yagami. We'll make him pay for thinking that he could try to kill us and get away with it."

Billy laughed again. "As if. We'd still need a third."

"Already got one," Eiji replied quickly. "Chris!" he called.

A young boy, no older than Billy's younger sister, stepped out from the small house not too far away.

"Hai?" he asked softly, gingerly walking towards him.

"Is that...?" Billy began, wide-eyed.

Eiji nodded, grinning proudly. "I found him wandering, so I took him in. Apparently... being the vessel for the Orochi actually saved him," he theorized.

Billy stood dumbfounded for a moment as the brunette boy made his way towards them. "I'll be sodding damned. I'm in," he said.

"Is this him, ojiisan?" Chris asked, looking from Eiji to Billy.

Eiji nodded at him. "Hai, this is Billy Kane-san... he's going to help us defeat that Yagami."

And Chris smiled to his teammates, enthused by the prospect that he may yet avenge his Shermie-oneechan and Yashiro-niichan.

--

"Athena! Athena!" the crowd cheered eagerly as the pop princess took a bow, smiling brightly.

They wanted an encore, but Athena had a prior engagement that she really couldn't skip out on. "Sorry! Athena is sorry!" she apologized. "But there won't be an encore this time! Athena has to go! But Athena will see you all again real soon!" she promised.

There was a collective groan moving through the crowd like a wave.

Athena really hated to disappoint her fans, but this was really important. Still waving and smiling, the purple-haired psychic idol moved backstage.

"Konbanwa, Athena-san!" A girl with brown hair, pulled atop her head in a wavy, spiky mess, greeted her.

"Hi, Momoko-chan. Where's...?" she began.

"I'm here," Kula said, smiling as well, a large lollipop in her hand.

"Good. Now we can form out team!" Athena chirped, nodding.

Kula paused. "Um... I don't want to be mean, Athena... but I don't think Whip, Uncle and Mom would like that very much. I think they wanted me to team with K' and Uncle..." she said quietly, before stuffing the sweet in her mouth.

"So why don't you call them and ask?" Momoko suggested, as if that were the most obvious answer in the world.

"Yes! There's a deeply rooted evil flowing through the KOF, and we have to stop it! Athena can feel it!" the psychic idol said emphatically.

Kula sighed and pulled out her baby blue and violet cellphone, twirling the candy in her other hand as she brought the device to her ear. "Whip?" she asked.

_"Hey, Kula. What's up?" _ Whip asked kindly. _"Did you have fun at Athena's concert?"_

"Um, yeah! It was really great, and Momoko took care of me, just like she promised! I didn't get lost backstage or anything!" Kula said with child-like pride. "But..."

_"Is something wrong?"_ Whip asked, concerned.

"Not really... Athena and Momoko asked me to join their team for the next KOF. I told them that it might not be a good ide--"

_"I think that's a wonderful idea."_

"Re-really, Whip? You do?" Kula stammered, smiling in surprise.

_"Of course. You need to socialize with other people your own age, and you seem to like Momoko and Athena,"_ Whip replied. Kula could hear her smiling, too.

"But what about you, K' and Uncle? Won't you need my help this year?" Kula pressed. She didn't want to abandon them.

Whip shook her head._"No... I don't think so. K' recieved an offer to rejoin Benimaru's team, and he accepted it. If you want to join Athena and Momoko, go ahead."_

"Will it be okay with Mom?" Kula asked; that was the last hurdle. She really wanted to hang out with Momoko and Athena more... but not if it upset Diana.

_"I think your Mom will agree with me. Don't worry about it, okay? Just have some fun, and I'll take care of it,"_ Whip promised.

"Thanks, Whip," Kula said.

_"You're welcome. Have fun. Oh! Are you staying over there?"_ Whip asked.

Kula pulled the phone from her ear for a moment. "She says okay, but she wants to know if I'll be staying over."

Athena giggled and nodded.

"Yup!"

_"Oh... this is so nice. I'm glad you're making friends, Kula," _Whip sighed happily.

"Me too!" Kula agreed.

_"Have fun at the KOF, and be careful, Kula,"_ Whip cautioned. _"If you need help..."_

"I'll find K', or call you or Uncle," Kula promised. "Bye, Whip!" She snapped the phone closed and turned to the two female psycho soldiers again.

"You're in?" Momoko asked excitedly.

Kula nodded, throwing out a peace sign. "I'm in!"

--

"I can't believe I'm here..." the ninja geek groaned, sitting atop the railing of a large stone staircase. "Ugh..." the petite girl was outside of an ornate, granite church, very old and gothic. It had probably been established over a hundred years ago...

"I can not believe zat you actually showed up," a soft, heavily accented voice replied. There was a glow of flourescent blue light, and a woman with long, silver-white hair and a dancer's figure and clothing appeared.

She was smiling to the girl.

"Yeah, well... I almost didn't," Nagase said dryly, her eyes narrowed behind her marigold colored glasses.

"I am glad zat you did, for vatever reason. Ve have a lot of vork to do..." Luise said cryptically.

"Hey, wait, don't we need a third person? From what I read, the rules to this game is three-man teams," Nagase said, one leg pulled up to her chest, the other swinging back and forth.

Luise gave a small wave of her hand. "It says zat zere **should** be, not that it is required. Zere have been single entries before..." she gave a sigh. "I am not sure about our third. She is not what you would call... dedicated to our cause."

"It's a foolish cause," a soft, girlish voice preceeded a flash of violet light, and an even smaller, pale girl with platinum hair and amythest eyes appeared.

"I swear, you two are related..." Nagase complained.

"It is not foolish!" Luise said defensively. "Why vould it be foolish to vant to save your vorld?" she asked.

"Tch," Ninon began. "If you want to save the world, you came to the wrong Beart."

"Your sister is well-meaning, but naive. I needed someone with more experience and a level-head. I was not expecting..." Luise trailed.

"Wasn't expecting what?" Ninon sneered. "Someone like me?"

Nagase smiled appreciatively. "You know, Lakia, I could get to like her."

"Please, do not use zat name..." Luise asked. "I prefer my given Earth name."

"Whatever," Ninon said flippantly. "I don't care about saving the world. All I care about is making Mignon humiliated at the KOF, so she'll realize how pointless trying to become a witch is. She just hasn't got the stuff. And this world peace kick? Please."

"True, she does not have your talent... but she has quite a few things zat you lack," Luise said, again in a most cryptic manner. If anyone asked her why she did it that why, the most honest reply she could give would be, 'To make you ask questions', like a mocking parent to a child. But the most polite answer she could give was, 'Knowing the whole truth does not always mean happiness.'

Ninon's lips twisted into a frown, and Nagase grinned as she felt temperate and tension level outside raise a few degrees. "Like what?" she asked.

"Determination. Compassion. The desire to do good vith vat power she does have," Luise replied. "You're almost as human as I am."

"I didn't come here for a speech on ethics. I want to make Mignon eat my dust. You want to save the world. In the KOF, we can do those things. Are we a team or not?" Ninon asked.

Luise looked to Nagase, who'd fallen quiet. "Vat about you, Nagase? Does the King of Fighters tournment hold a goal for you, as vell?" she asked.

Nagase hopped off the railing, and shrugged. "I guess I'm just along for the ride," she said.

Luise doubted that was the truth, but she didn't push it. A person's secrets were theirs to keep, if they so chose.

"Good. Then this tournament belongs to us," Ninon said.

The darkness in the girl's voice, the sheer eerie feeling dripping from her tone made Luise wonder if inviting these two girls onto a team was really such a good idea at all...

--

Whip stared blankly at her cellphone, wondering if she really should press 'send' and call Diana... to tell her that Kula was entering the KOF ofher own volition. Not because they had to defend the world from an evil underground cartel, or something like that, but because she had friends that wanted her help.

Diana was sure to have mixed feelings about that, and Whip didn't want her to reconsider letting Kula stay with them. She'd grown attached to the girl, treating her like the little sister that she and K' had never had. Maxima would be heart-broken if Kula left, as well; he was so protective of her, always looking out for her. Watching them play games or even talk was a constant source of amusement.

But perhaps Whip was making too big a deal of this. After all, Kula was an amazing fighter, so there should be no reason for Diana to freak.

Still... the brunette hit send, and awaited Diana's grumpy voice.

_"Oy," _it came.

"Hey, Diana. It's Whip," she said, trying to keep it light.

_"Oh, hi."_ Diana's voice was still flat, unamused or even moved. _"Is Kula alright?"_ she asked.

"Yes, Kula's fine. She's great, actually. She made two new friends today," Whip said, proud of Kula's acheivement, however minor it may be.

But, to Diana and Whip, it was not minor. They, and Maxima, had thought that Kula might never make any friends her own age. This was a better sign that they could have ever hoped for; Kula, and K', could live normal lives, make friends, and most of all, be happy. They weren't just weapons.

Diana's voice perked up._"Really?! She did? Who?"_

"Well..." Whip began nervously. "That's the thing. It's Momoko and Athena Asamiya."

_"Athe... Oh, no. You don't mean?"_ Diana asked.

"Yes. They invited her to participate in the KOF, on their team," Whip said. No yelling or screaming or death threats yet. Good sign.

_"I assume that you, Maxima and K' will be competing again, to keep an eye on her,"_ Diana said firmly. It wasn't a question.

"K' accepted another offer," Whip said smoothly, hoping that she could move the blame onto her brother.

_"Then you told Kula no, didn't you?"_ Diana continued.

"Actually..."

_"I'm coming to Southtown. We're entering the KOF. How can you be so irresponsible? I thought you were the mature one!" _Diana shouted.

"Honestly, I think Kula can take care of herself..."

_"Not in the KOF. Not with two other little girls!" _Diana screamed over the phone.

Whip grimaced as the feeling of someone hammering a nail into her eardrum ripped through her. "Have you ever seen Athena fight? She's got all of this pink stuff..." Whip began, and then stopped herself. That was the effect Diana had on people, and the entire reason she did her job so well for NESTS, once upon a time; she could frighten people so bad that they either turned into sobbing piles of spineless mush, or they revert to an adolescent state of mind and try rationalizing everything they did to her. "I mean, I think it'll be good for Kula to spend some time away from home with her friends. Athena and Momoko are responsible girls, and they're strong. It'll be like an adventure."

_"Adventure, my ass. Kula's not going on any adventures in the KOF. You and Maxima are going to accompany me to make sure tha Kula stays unharmed!"_ Diana demanded.

Whip sighed. She'd hoped for the best, but reality was a harsh mistress. "You aren't going to take her, are you?" she asked.

_"Not if you comply."_

"Alright. I'll tell Maxima," Whip agreed.

_"Thank you," _ Diana said, suddenly right as rain.

"Yeah, you're welcome."

_"I'll see you soon."_

They both hung up, and now all Whip had to do was wake-up Maxima and tell him the not-so-good news.

--

And that's where I'm going to stop this. Half because I'm bored with writing it, and half because... well, I can't think of anything to write for the other teams. But here's the list I promised.

The Better-Looking Korea Team - Jhun Hoon (leader), Chae Lim, Kim Jae Hoon.

The Children of Fate Team - Alba Meira (leader), Soiree Meira, Mignon Beart.

The Sugar Sugar Love Team - Athena Asamiya (leader), Momoko, Kula Diamond.

The Anti-Ash Team - Chizuru Kagura (leader), Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami.

The Heroine Team - Luise Meyrink (leader), Nagase, Ninon Beart.

The Korea Team - Kim Kaphwan (leader), May Lee Jinju, Chang.

The Ikari Warriors Team - Leona Heidern (leader), Ralf Jones, Clark Still.

The Anti-Yagami Team - Eiji Kisaragi (leader), Billy Kane, Chris.

The Neo-Fatal Fury Team - Rock Howard (leader), B. Jenet, Dong Hwan.

The Back-Up Team - Diana (leader), Whip, Maxima.

The Japan Team - K', Benimaru Nikaido, Shingo Yabuki.

The Women's Team - King (leader), Blue Mary, Mai Shiranui.

The College Girls' Team - Kasumi Todoh (leader), Malin, Hinako Shijou.

The Lone Wolves Team - Terry Bogard (leader), Joe Higashi, Andy Bogard.

The Team Formerly Known as Heroes - Ash Crimson (leader), Duo Lon, Shen Woo.

And a few surprise teams. Review, please!


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